Socio-political stability would help Haiti to
benefit from its liberalization efforts

The WTO report, along with a
policy statement by the Government of Haiti, will be the basis for the
first Trade Policy Review (TPR) of Haiti by the Trade Policy Review Body
of the WTO on 4 and 6 November 2003.

Haiti, one of the poorest countries in the world, has implemented
reforms that have greatly liberalized its economy and made it one of the
most open in Latin America and the Caribbean; nevertheless, the
implementation of the structural component of the reforms has not
followed and this has had a negative impact on the economy’s
performance, according to a report on the trade policies and practices
of Haiti released November 6 by the WTO Secretariat.

The report says that the priority would currently appear to be
socio-political stability that would allow Haiti to proceed with its
reforms and to fully exploit non-reciprocal preferential treatment
provided by developed countries. Adapting domestic legislation to the
reforms already implemented, some adjustments in taxation and other
measures, including improving Haiti’s multilateral commitments on both
goods and services, would improve the transparency and credibility of
its trade regime.

The report adds that it is important that the international community
support the liberalization efforts made unilaterally by Haiti under
difficult socio-political circumstances and give it all the assistance
and support needed to increase its participation in the multilateral
trading system.

Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO agreements,
in which member countries’ trade and related policies are examined and
evaluated at regular intervals. Significant developments that may have
an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each
review, two documents are prepared: a policy statement by the
government of the member under review, and a detailed report written
independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are then
discussed by the WTO’s full membership in the Trade Policy Review Body
(TPRB). These documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are
published shortly afterwards.

Print
copies of previous TPR publications are available for sale from the
WTO Secretariat, Centre William Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211
Genève 21 and through the on-line
bookshop.

The
TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press, 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States.